Poll finds illegal immigration a top concern

WASHINGTON — One-third of American voters want to deprive illegal immigrants of social services, including public schooling and emergency-room health care, a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll indicates.

Still, a bipartisan majority -- 60 percent -- favors allowing illegal immigrants who haven't committed crimes to become citizens if they pay fines, learn English and meet other requirements.

The poll indicates that illegal immigration isn't the most important issue for voters, though it is a high concern.

Asked what problem is a priority for presidential candidates to address, 15 percent said illegal immigration -- the fifth most mentioned topic behind the Iraq war, the economy, protecting America from terrorist attack and health care.

Asked about illegal immigration, 81 percent of voters said they considered it important, including 27 percent who said it was one of the most pressing problems facing the country.

The poll makes clear that voters make a distinction between legal and illegal immigrants: Asked if illegal immigrants had a positive or negative contribution to their community, 36 percent said negative (21 percent said positive, 29 percent said the impact wasn't discernible).

When the same question was asked about legal immigrants, 46 percent said positive, 12 percent said negative and 31 percent said no discernible impact.

When those who said immigrants had a negative impact were asked precisely how, the reasons most often cited were increased crime (30 percent), loss of American jobs (35 percent) and increased cost of social services (19 percent).

The survey was based on interviews from Friday through Monday of 1,245 registered voters. The cited margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.